What Does A Language Mean To People
I have called two countries home, Wales and New Zealand. I have called two countries home, Cymru and Aotearoa. Whilst I can only converse with one language and therefore possess one overriding world view I am deeply aware that this is just one of many many ways of viewing the human experience. Language is everything. Your language is everything, all languages are everything. Languages also convey unique cultures. Cherokee, for example, has no word for goodbye, only “I will see you again”. Likewise, no phrase exists for “I’m sorry”. On the other hand, it has special expressions all its own. One word – oo-kah-huh-sdee –represents the mouth-watering, cheek-pinching delight experienced when seeing an adorable baby or a kitten. “All of these things convey a culture, a way of interpreting human behaviour and emotion that’s not conveyed the same way as in the English language,” Belt says. Without the language, the culture itself might teeter, or even disappear. “If we are to survive, to conti